A topic for my portraits :)

[tatmf]

I open that topic for my portraits contributions.

Since Jeryl has answered my questions and illustrated his directions with such talent, I will now begin filling that topic with portraits for you all to judge.



First comes my idea of a griffin.
This is an attempt to look wesnoth style from the start, so don't hesitate criticizing already.

I made this on paper directly with a pen so that the line look better than those of my dwarf.



Do you think it is necessary to redraw it with vectors so it looks cleaner?

BTW. Griffins are fun. I might try an accurate painting or sketch with one of those one day .

[Sapient]

Cool! More portraits from Tatmf!

Here are my thoughts about the gryphon portrait.
(disclaimer: I am not an art developer)

shape:
I like the shape of the head and the back wing. Personally, I'd prefer a sharper beak. The main concern I have is the structure of the front wing-- it follows a wavy line that would seem weak for flapping.

[Zhukov]

Hey, nice work.

I made this on paper directly with a pen so that the line look better than those of my dwarf.

Wouldn't you find it easier to do the line in pencil first, then ink over in pen and rub out the pencil?

Do you think it is necessary to redraw it with vectors so it looks cleaner?

Nope, looks clean to me, but I'm no artist so I can't really judge it.
As for the picture, I would get rid of the claw. It makes it look like you just wanted a claw in the picture without any reason for it being there.

Off-topic but I have to ask: how do you pronounce tatmf?

[tatmf]

Wouldn't you find it easier to do the line in pencil first, then ink over in pen and rub out the pencil?

I'm gonna try different ways. But Whith a pencil, I tend to make detailed sketches that won't fit the game.
Furthermore, I don't realy like inking on paper because I like to keep a trace of the previous steps. So far I did not manage to make a clean "inking" on my computer either.

The beak is soft, I agree. This was to make it look a bit more cartoonish, but I think adding color and maybe just a line on top of the beak should do the trick.

[tatmf]

The main concern I have is the structure of the front wing-- it follows a wavy line that would seem weak for flapping.

You're right. Something's wrong. I am not sure what it is yet. I think the stylized feathers don't follow the wing's perspective, creating the false idea the wing is vertical. If it was, it would be too short and wrongly folded.

I wish I could explain better, but I guess you got what I meant.

[Jetrel]

I don't think this one is good enough, and I think the reasons are that it has been oversimplified/over-cartoonified, and that the inking is too .... uhm... curvy/loopy. It's hard for me to describe, even in english, but I think that more corners and hard edges in the linework would help.

On a side note, we did actually get another, currently uncolored, portrait for a gryphon rider, drawn by "spekkio" - if someone could find that, it'd be rather good for the topic at hand. It needed a bunch of cleanup, and elaboration/articulation of the shapes (which were too cartoony), but was a reasonably good drawing.

But Whith a pencil, I tend to make detailed sketches that won't fit the game.

...

This was to make it look a bit more cartoonish.

I suspect this general strategy of trying to make things more "cartoonish" is backfiring heavily. I'd try and make things more realistic.

So far I did not manage to make a clean "inking" on my computer either.

I may be able to help with this - I'll explain my technique in more detail, and hopefully that should do the trick.

Believe it or not, Jason Lutes actually used un-inked pencils on his drawings for the final linework; he just did a very conscientious job of keeping them clean, and applied a few tricks to make them more solid (you can see his explanation of this in the tutorials).

[Alks]

I may be able to help with this - I'll explain my technique in more detail, and hopefully that should do the trick.

Do that Jetryl, he can be a worthy contributor.

[tatmf]

I must confess I did not read the whole tutorial page, nor did I get through a lot of the forum's topics. I just couldn't find the time.
edit: actualy, I just did read the inking tutorial. I guess it could work. What I did with the dwarf was similar, but truth is I had only one half on the paper, the rest was added on the computer...


I wanted to try several methods. I'm still going to if I find time to do so. What I first intended to do was to elaborate sketches with a pencil until I find out what I want my griffin to look like, and then make it from scratch with a pen. This is not what I did here.

By the way, I'm aware the griffin seems almost too simple. I thought details could appear with color, but this is probably bad strategy.

I'll stick with portraits for now, but I feel I'll have to try more elaborate drawings once in a while (campaigns?) to loosen the frustrating constraints

More elaborate meaning having some fun like with that guy here: (except that I did not spend time on it)

[tatmf]

In that new year, I may find time to draw. Not sure yet.

Anyway, to prevent Boucman from yelling at me, I tried something today.

Once again, I did not exactly follow the toturial by the book, but it looks cleaner than last time though.

Not realy happy with the hands. I think the whole drawing could be more accurate, but I struggle with the Wesnoth art-style.

NB: I know I should not colorize a non-definitive work, but I see the defaults better that way.

[Flametrooper]

Not a great portrait artist by any means, but somehow the hands look feminine...
Purely stylistic suggestion: A Berserker portrait (I assume that's what this is?) should have more "rage" to it. Yours looks almost...ponderous or something.
The art is good, though, definitely.

[Jetrel]

I can do some very minor tweaks to the hands and expression to finish this. 95% of it fits the "lutes" style like a glove.

Nice, btw!

[Kestenvarn]

A Berserker portrait should have more "rage" to it.

One way to do this: Gritting teeth.

He could also use some more scars, Jetryl.

[Boucman]

A Berserker portrait should have more "rage" to it.

I would tend to disagree with that. All our portaits are in non-action pause.

I imagine the berserkers to be nervous guys, the sort that always pick up fights, but that does not mean they are always "in rage" and I don't think they should be portrayed as such.

a slightly more "angry" attitude than our other portraits, but I would rather have him convey "impatience" than rage, and I think that this portrait does a great job conveying that

[irrevenant]

What Boucman said. This guy looks tense (as befits a berserker) - like he's on the field of battle itching for a fight. That's perfect, IMO.

[zookeeper]

Looks like that would fit some guy in one of those barbarian, marauder or whatever eras/factions/campaigns. Doesn't really look like an ulf/berserker at all to me.